


Salmon Rice Balls

by CloversDreams



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cats, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, just them being cute, so of course he needed a fic about this, you know i really stan a ship when i give them cats, zora is fifth most liked by animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 11:57:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19991800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloversDreams/pseuds/CloversDreams
Summary: Of the million and one possibilities that could’ve explained their current situation, Finral wouldn’t have even entertained the idea that he’d walk up to his boyfriend scratching beneath a content, ash-colored cat’s chin in a random alley. The chubby cat looked up at him, blinked, then shut its eyes again and purred as Zora continued to pet it. The whole scene was nearly too cute for him to handle. He could hardly believe it.Finral offered his boyfriend the smaller bag of snacks that had the rice balls in it and muttered, “Do you think it’s hungry?”Zora eyed the bag for a moment. He took it then looked inside and asked, “What is this? You can’t just give a cat human food.”“Salmon rice balls,” Finral replied without missing a beat. He beamed as he watched Zora look up at him and blink a few times.





	Salmon Rice Balls

“Thank you for everything! I’ll see you again real soon!” Finral called as he waved over his shoulder. He smiled at the owner of the bakery and his wife then left the shop. They’d been more than happy to provide the Black Bulls with discounted snacks since they’d helped them out of trouble a while back. The bag he held was full to bursting with all sorts of treats for his fellow squadmates. They’d certainly be happy about it. He paused just outside of the shop and looked around.

Finral smiled at the passersby he made eye contact with but he quickly looked away. He hadn’t been in that shop for too long, so he didn’t understand why he was all alone. He rolled his eyes then headed down the street and towards the designated Black Bulls meetup point. That was necessary no matter who he traveled with. His squad had the attention span of goldfish sometimes. Though he didn’t usually mind it, he had to admit that he’d expected better of his boyfriend.

Oh, well. He supposed that Zora had as much of a right as the next guy to get bored and wander off. Though it might’ve been nice if he’d stuck around. This errand could’ve been a quickie date, but evidently Finral’s mind was the only one the thought had crossed. It was probably better not to dwell on that. A snack vendor caught his eye and he stopped off at the cart to buy himself a few specialty rice balls. If nothing else, they made his trip seem worthwhile.

He munched on his snack as he continued down the road. He didn’t pay too much attention to those around himself because he had a destination in mind that he was set on reaching. He continued on his way until he heard a hushed voice. He’d recognize it anywhere. Though he couldn’t figure out who Zora would ever talk to so sweetly. Well, maybe _sweetly_ was going a bit overboard. His tone definitely didn’t have any of its usual bite, though.

Finral stopped in his tracks and turned towards the sound. Of course he found himself looking down a dimly lit alley because that was a totally normal place to see one’s boyfriend squatting and talking to himself. Finral shook his head then headed down the alley as well. He’d learned not to dwell on such things at this point. Investigating it firsthand instead of jumping to conclusions always made the most sense. There must’ve been something quite interesting on the other side if Zora hadn’t bothered to look up at him. When he was finally close enough to see over his boyfriend’s shoulder he paused in mid step.

Of the million and one possibilities that could’ve explained their current situation, Finral wouldn’t have even entertained the idea that he’d walk up to his boyfriend scratching beneath a content, ash-colored cat’s chin in a random alley. The chubby cat looked up at him, blinked, then shut its eyes again and purred as Zora continued to pet it. The whole scene was nearly too cute for him to handle. He could hardly believe it.

Finral offered his boyfriend the smaller bag of snacks that had the rice balls in it and muttered, “Do you think it’s hungry?”

Zora eyed the bag for a moment. He took it then looked inside and asked, “What is this? You can’t just give a cat human food.”

“Salmon rice balls,” Finral replied without missing a beat. He beamed as he watched Zora look up at him and blink a few times. “What? They’re good! You’d know that if you ever tried one!”

Zora shook his head then reached into the bag and removed one of the snacks. He broke it in half and scooped out the meat within and let it fall to the ground. The cat jumped then sniffed where it landed curiously. It was on its feet not a moment later, clearly intrigued by what it smelled. It licked its chops and then looked at him.

Zora smirked when the cat began to eat the offering. He pat it’s back and muttered, “Eat up, you’ll need your strength when the babies arrive.”

“When the _what_?” Finral gasped. This was all so much to process right now.

“She’s pregnant. Practically ready to burst.” Zora explained. He stood and handed the snack bag back to Finral. Then he took the larger bag of pastries for the squad and motioned for him to follow as he meandered out of the alley.

Finral scurried after him. He motioned behind them and said, “We can’t just leave her there! Can we?”

“She’s a tough alley cat and if you try to forcibly remove her from her home she won’t hesitate to claw your eyes out.” Zora explained what he thought was the obvious. He didn’t give Finral a chance to reply before he added, “Not to mention she might have a tom wandering around here somewhere. Would you really want to separate them?”

“Well, no…” Finral couldn’t say that he’d feel very good about something like that.

Zora shook the bag he held then said, “Lets get back to the HQ before they all shift into starving beasts and turn on one another. Then we’ll have to deal with that chaos.”

“Again,” Finral snickered.

They left the alley and continued down the street together. It was much too crowded to just open portals in the middle of nowhere. That meant they were headed towards that designated meeting place at the end of the street. So they had a couple of minutes to chat. That was good since Finral was pretty curious right now.

“You like cats, huh?” Finral asked, a bit in awe of the revelation. He never would’ve guessed with the guys usual abrasive nature. Though now that he thought about it, that had always been towards people, not animals. He’d never had the chance to watch Zora interact with animals before. He eyed his boyfriend and added, “You certainly know a bit about them.”

“It’d be more accurate to say cats like me,” Zora explained with a shrug. They continued towards their destination as that sank in.

“And that you do nothing to deter it,” Finral hummed. He didn’t know why but he was rather pleased by the revelation. They finally stopped where they had enough open space and he held his right hand in the air. His grimoire floated before him as he opened them a portal back to the base.

“I guess you could look at it like that,” Zora mumbled. He turned and kissed Finral quickly before he finally walked through the waiting portal.

A light blush dusted Finral’s cheeks. He couldn’t help but smile as he stepped in after his boyfriend. Zora never ceased to amaze him. It was one of the things he liked best about the guy. He had lots of questions about this newfound information and he simply couldn’t wait to ask all of them.

♧

It was just over four weeks before Finral had business in the capital city again. It seemed like his work with the Black Bulls had taken him everywhere else. When he realized that his new assignment was in the same area as the last one he made sure to invite Zora along. Maybe they could finally have that date they’d been putting off since they’d been busy. There was always something interesting going on in the capital, after all.

The job was simple enough, they had to deliver an important letter. That was accomplished moments after they portaled into the city. Sometimes Finral had to wonder if their talents were wasted on missions such as these. Oh, well, at least it had been easy. He made sure to smile and wave goodbye to the client twice as hard since his companion obviously wouldn’t. After that job was done he and Zora were free to do what they pleased so they decided to have some lunch together. It had been a while since they’d gone out for such a thing.

After their meal the two of them wandered the city hand in hand for a bit. They were procrastinating heading back to the chaos that was their headquarters. They meandered down the street until they reached the alley from their last trip. Curiosity was written all over Zora’s face as he turned towards it. Finral had to admit he knew the feeling. So he pulled Zora into that alley and they looked around.

At first glance it seemed abandoned. He was ready to turn back when he heard Zora click his tongue softly. Finral gasped when the sound was met with a soft meow. The guy really did get animals. An ash-colored cat meandered out from behind some crates and blinked at him. Zora bent down and pet her. Finral squatted next to him and greeted her as well.

There was a rare fondness in Zora’s eyes as he pet the cat and said, “You’re looking well, Sake.”

Finral smiled to himself. The name suited her. He watched as the cat trilled and walked in a circle. She meowed loudly then sat down in front of them. Not a moment later three kittens wandered out from their hiding spot behind the crates. They wobbled over to the newcomers and sniffed them both curiously. Finral was in awe of just how tiny and adorable they were. They all looked so different too.

One kitten was mostly black except for some white above its eyes that gave it a constantly serious expression. Another looked like a carbon copy of the mother with its flawless ash-colored fur and blue eyes. The third was also ash-colored but it had black spots on each of its paws that made it look like it wore little boots. He was pretty sure he’d never seen a more precious sight than the three of them and their little tails stuck in the air.

“Do you have those leftovers from lunch?” Zora asked as he poked the black kitten gently on its little head. It seemed rather confused by the action and sniffed his finger in response. Then it batted at him playfully.

“Oh! Right!” Finral reached into the bag he held and removed the box of food. He opened it and picked out the chicken. He tore it into manageable pieces and set them onto the ground for the cats. A bunch of tiny mews melted his heart as they inspected the offering.

They sat there and watched the happy kittens in silence. It was Zora that finally broke that when he tilted his head and asked, “Is it just me or does that black one remind you of the captain?”

“Yeah, it just needs a little cigarette!” Finral laughed. Once the chicken was gone the three kittens started to wrestle. The black one was quick to assert its dominance and win by pinning the others. Finral blinked at the silly animals then glanced at Zora and asked, “Do you think we should name them?”

“Hiro.” Zora nodded and motioned towards the black kitten. That much seemed obvious enough. He looked over at the other one with the black on its paws. Another one that was easy to name based on its appearance. “Boots.”

Finral smiled and hummed in agreement. Those were fine names for the kittens. He looked down when he felt a tug on his shirt. The gray kitten seemed to be attempting to pull him somewhere. It was having absolutely no luck but it kept on trying anyway. It was only when Finral moved that he noticed the cat was attempting to hide a bug under the end of his shirt. He laughed softly then shooed the bug away and picked the silly kitten up. It mewed at him and tried to wriggle free.

“You’re a little jokester, huh? I think the name that suits you best is Zara-chan.” Finral smiled when he heard a soft laugh from his boyfriend. Not a moment later he turned and kissed Zora on the cheek. It was a show of appreciation that he was happy to give. After that he offered the gray kitten to the redhead with a soft hum.

“A name like that is just begging for this one to be a troublemaker when it grows up. With eyes like those, it absolutely looks the part.” Zora snickered as he took the kitten. It meowed at him as if it had something to say in its own defense. He huffed then rubbed the top of its little head. The other two wandered over to him and bat at his legs then meowed softly for attention as well. He looked down at them then glanced at Finral out of the corner of his eye and asked, “On a scale of one to total obliteration… how much trouble do you think we’ll get into if we bring these four back to the HQ?”

Finral considered it for a moment. That was actually hard to call. There were a few factors to ponder. He weighed the options out loud as he said, “They’d take care of any pests around, which is a bonus. They’re super cute, but that’s only going to work on a select few members. Rouge would probably like some playmates too, which would also make Vanessa happy. Hmm… it really depends on the captain’s mood. If we introduce them to other members first though they have a fighting chance.”

Finral pat Sake on the head when she meowed at him. He was sure their fellow squadmates would adore the fluffy balls of energy and their lovely mother. That meant they’d help argue for them to stay even if the captain did not seem to like the idea.

“Better than I expected. I was just curious since I would’ve done it even if you said it was hopeless,” Zora snickered. He scooped up all three kittens and was on his feet a moment later. They wriggled in his grip and he had to keep readjusting so none of them fell. He finally got them to calm down just a bit then he motioned for Finral to pick up their mom and follow him out of the alley.

There was something a bit triumphant in Zora’s voice when he said, “We should stop off and get them some food before we head back.”

“Like salmon rice balls?” Finral smiled as the cat in his arms purred loudly. Evidently, she liked the sound of that. He pet her and followed his boyfriend down the street so they could get their tiny new squadmates some supplies. He wondered if robes came in their size too. He bet that’d be a hit with the rest of the squad. He made a mental note to look into ordering something like that. If nothing else, it’d sure be a lot of fun trying to get the cats to keep them on for a few minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> A quick little fic because I am weak and cant stop thinking about these two! Feel free to share any hcs you have about them with me <3
> 
> Im supposed to be working on ideas for the upcoming black clover week but here I am taking a break from that to write fluffy shenanigans instead… SSDD
> 
> I think about zora being in the top five chars that are loved by animals a lot <3<3
> 
> Finral naming the one kitten after Zoras father pls. this is me weeping during soft hours


End file.
